Leaf Academy
by Fast
Summary: The new kid, Naruto, has just enrolled at Leaf Academy in Konoha. Bullies, Losers, and Preps and everything will try to make things difficutlt. Starring Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, Sakura, Shikamaru and many more.
1. Orientation

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

I am sorry, but it could not be helped. I desperately wanted to avoid a cliché, but in order for my story to work—in my opinion—Naruto must be the new kid. I thought about using Kiba, Sasuke, Gaara and even Shino, but I could not convey my story believably. Maybe someday I'll make a different fiction with more thought put into the beginning. However, for now, here is yet another story with Naruto as the new kid.

* * *

"Come, Mr. Uzumaki." A young man with deep, sunken eyes commanded in a monotone. "We mustn't keep the Headmistress waiting." Suddenly, a vicious coughing fit interrupted the man. Naruto stared wide-eyed at his guide, wondering if he should try to help him. 

As abruptly as it came, the fit ended. "Sorry about that. I am Hayate Gekko, Tsunade's aid."

"Aid?" Naruto asked, puzzled. Suddenly, the light bulb flipped on. "Oh, I get it! You're her secretary!"

Hayate's eye twitched slightly, but he spoke with his same monotone, betraying no anger. "I am not a secretary, boy. You'd best remember that. I also enforce disciplinary actions, along with the Assistant Principal Ibiki, so I would not get on my bad side."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down there Hayate. I was just playing around. I'm new so I could you please cut me a little slack."

"Fine I'll ease up a bit, but for future reference call me Mr. Gekko. Now, come. We mustn't keep the Headmistress waiting."

"You said that exact same earlier." Noticing the withering glance sent his way, Naruto raised his hands in mock surrender. "Just pointing it out in case you didn't notice."

Sighing, Hayate said, "I can tell that you are going to be visiting mine and Ibiki's office quite a few times this year."

* * *

Tsunade was passed out drunk, her head lying on the mahogany desk, piles of paper stacked all around her. Numerous alcohol bottles were strewn around the large office. 

As Naruto walked in, he gagged, bombarded by the rancid stench. "Doesn't she ever clean this place up?" He asked, covering his mouth and nose with his shirt collar.

"Quiet, boy. It is not your place to question the Headmistress," Hayate replied, completely avoiding the question.

"Headmistress?" Hayate whispered tentatively. "Headmistress!" He said more forcefully. "I am sorry, but you need to wake up, NOW!" Hayate shattered the relative quiet by shouting the final word. Startled, Tsunade jumped up. The Headmistress's droopy eyes traveled wearily around the room. Finally, they rested on the pair and she squinted to try to make out their forms.

"Hayate is that you?"

"Yes, Headmistress. I have a new student, who just transferred. It was in the report I sent a week ago."

Before Tsunade could reply—probably to say she never receiver the report—a tall, broad man stepped inside. "Allow me, Headmistress, to deal with this." Tsunade nodded sleepily, before she promptly fell asleep on her desk again.

The stranger watched the woman for a few moments before facing Naruto's guide. "Now, Hayate, what have I told you before? If anything needs to be done just come straight to me. We all know who truly runs this school."

"I'm sorry, sir." Hayate bowed as he apologized. "However, these papers about his transfer need the Headmistresses signature. Whether she rules the school or not, the School District wants her signature, not anyone else's." Hayate said.

"I have given you many chances, Hayate. I try to forge friendship between us, but you are determined to hate me. Your last chance is coming soon; don't waste it. You do not want me as an enemy." With those words, Ibiki swept out of the room, snatching the forms Hayate was holding as he left.

Hayate watched the other man leave for a few seconds—glaring at his back—before turning back to Naruto. "Sorry about that. We'll skip the paperwork for now, so let's get your uniform."

"Uniform?!" Naruto gasped. "Why do I need a uniform?"

"Because this is a prep school. It is required to wear the school uniform, so whining won't help you. However, perhaps you can make some slight modifications, as many of the other pupils here have done."

* * *

"All right, I'm done." Naruto said as he stepped out of the changing room. "How do I look?" Naruto asked as he gave a little twirl, a fake sultry smile on his face. 

Hayate ignored the boy's antics, coughing again, before motioning for Naruto to follow him.

"This is the Boy's Dorm. That far wing is for the sophomores. The students here will tell you all you need to know: the rules, where stuff is, etcetera."

"Since you are a faculty member, shouldn't that be your job."

Hayate coughed again, before he answered. "Look kid, I don't have time for this; I have work to do. So just go introduce yourself, and stop bugging me." Hayate turned and left not looking back.

"Thanks!" Naruto yelled after the man.

"Why would you thank him? He didn't help you very much."

Naruto spun around and looked at a rather obese boy that was his age. The boy wore the standard school sweater vest—that appeared to be stretching at the seams—and the school's standard khaki slacks. Munching on chip after chip the boy spoke with his mouth full, chip crumbs spraying everywhere.

Naruto wiped some chip crumbs off his face. "I was being sarcastic, kid." He said, obviously annoyed.

"Oh. Right. Sorry, but that stuff goes right over my head." Crumbs continued to rain on Naruto, spoiling his decently good mood. "So you're the new kid, huh? I'm Chouji." The fat kid stuck his hand out in greeting.

Naruto gave a quick half-smile and tentatively shook the other boy's hand, quickly letting go to wipe the slobber off on the wall.

"Uh…yeah. I'm Naruto. Maybe I'll see you around later, but now I've got to unpack. Any idea where my room is?"

"Yup."

Naruto stared at the boy for a while, hoping he would supply more information on his own. Exasperated, Naruto finally asked, "And that is…where?"

"Oh! I thought you knew, and was just making sure I knew so I could visit you and stuff. Sorry. Down the hall fourth door to the left." Chouji paused in his snacking to point down the hallway. As Naruto walked away, Chouji called after him, "See you later!"

"Hopefully not." Naruto muttered under his breath.

* * *

Naruto walked in to the correct room, and threw his stuff onto the bed. Lying down on the bed, he smothered his head into his pillow hoping to get some relaxing sleep. Turning his head to the side, he noticed something odd. Naruto groaned, and slapped his hand to his forehead. 

"I have a roommate?! Damn it; this sucks." On the other side of the room was another bed, and a dresser filled with miscellaneous junk.

"I'm not really too keen on the idea either, Naruto."

"Now, who is it?" Naruto moaned, looking over at the door. There stood a boy, leaning against the doorframe, hands in his pockets. He had dark, black hair that stuck up in a spiky topknot.

Not thinking clearly with his sleep-fogged brain, Naruto blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "Your head looks like a pineapple."

The other boy sighed, and muttered, "How troublesome." In a louder voice, he replied, "Thanks kid. I'm Shikamaru Nara, your roommate. First things first, do you snore?"

Sitting up on the bed, Naruto yawned, before answering. "Nope, I do not snore. Second things second, how did you know my name?"

"It says it on your luggage, and Mr. Gekko told me your name when he notified me you would be moving. One and a fourth year without a roommate and you finally break my lucky streak. Third things—"

"We need to stop this, now, before we annoy the hell out of ourselves." Naruto interrupted wincing at the thought of how long that could have gone.

Shikamaru nodded. "Your right, it was already getting troublesome. I hear you've met my friend, Chouji—"

"Chouji is your friend?" Naruto asked, disgusted. "That kid is gross. How can you stand him?"

Shikamaru looked genuinely angry this time. "He's a friend of mine, because we're friends. That's all you need to know. Now, he may look bad on the surface, but if you get to know him, you'll find out he's a cool guy."

"Whatever, man." Naruto said, getting off the bed, and walking to his luggage. "I've got to unpack, so unless you're going to help me, go away."

Shikamaru sighed, and stuck his hands in his pockets. As he strolled away, he turned his head and gave one last piece of advice. "Most of the kids in this school are sharks. They'll eat you alive, so you may want to make all the friends you can before you completely alienate yourself at this school."

Shikamaru's words of warning fell on deaf ears.

* * *

Finally done packing, and finding sleep not coming, Naruto sauntered into the Boy's Common Room. Glancing around, he wondered whether he wanted to watch TV, play ping-pong or pool, or try to talk to some of the other students. 

"Hey, New Kid. Come here." A voice commanded him.

Naruto obliged and walked over to a large group of boys. The one who called him over, had silver hair and large glasses. He wore an expensive aquamarine sweater, a crisp dress shirt underneath and straightened English Drape Trousers. His attire screamed that he was a prep.

"Hello Naruto. I am Kabuto. I know everything there is to know about this school, so I take it upon myself to orient all of the new students."

"Are you a sophomore too?"

Kabuto chuckled. "No, of course not. I am a junior, not some underclassman. Now, Listen. This is one of the most famous prep schools in the country. Not because of the grades though, this is the one of the most brutal schools to have ever existed. Watch what you do and say, and you may survive."

"This place is famous? How come I've never heard of it before?"

Kabuto chuckled again. "Because almost everyone's parents here are rich. Super rich. They keep everything hush-hush. I say almost everyone is here rich, because some of the students—like you—I have no idea how they were able to enroll. A mystery for another day I suppose." Kabuto paused for a moment to completely examine Naruto.

Kabuto shook his head and continued. "Back to you orientation. First Rule of thumb is: don't even talk to a girl unless, you know who or if they are dating. You look like a scrawny punching bag to most of these guys, so it would be a shame to be beaten up over something so trivial." Naruto could not tell, but something about Kabuto screamed that he was not completely truthful when he said the last statement.

"Hey, man. I'm pretty bulked up, look at these muscles. No one is gonna mess with me." Naruto said flexing his bicep.

Someone behind Naruto laughed at him. "That is pathetic. I'd spend a whole lot more time in the gym if I were you. Then maybe you can be as strong as the girls here, weakling."

"Who the hell are you?" Naruto angrily twisted around, tired of people sneaking up on him. The kid wore a black sweater over matching black pants. On the boy's head was a skullcap with two points sticking up, looking like two cat ears. His face was completely covered with purple face point that formed unique designs.

"Someone important, punk, so watch it." Shoving past Naruto the kid ambled away.

Enraged, Naruto began to pounce on the jerks turned back, but a hand on his shoulder held him back. Startled, Naruto looked back at Kabuto, who was slowly shaking his head. Pushing his glasses back up his nose, Kabuto explained who the rude boy was. "That was Kankuro Sabaku, one of the Sand Siblings. He is the least scary of the three, but you definitely do not want to mess with him. Besides, even if you somehow managed to 'punish him,' Temari and Gaara would just obliterate you."

"Who are Gaara and Temari? Please, tell me they aren't as freaky as this guy."

"One isn't. Temari is the oldest, and the most normal. Amazingly smart, athletic, pretty and rich this girl has it all. Unfortunately, she is extremely aggressive, cruel and sadistic. In other words, sweet she is not. The other is the most dangerous. No one in the school will dare mess with the youngest Sabaku. Gaara can and will kill you without hesitation—or effort. He is also brilliant. Gaara should only be a freshman, but skipped a grade. I'd be careful; both Kankuro and Gaara are sophomores—your grade—so making enemies so early would not be beneficial for you."

"Damn it. The students here seem hardcore. Is there anyone else I need to worry about?" Naruto said running a hand through his blonde, spiky hair, feeling overwhelmed.

"There are also the Uchihas. They aren't as bad as the Sabakus in my opinion. While the Sand Siblings will kill you without blinking, Itachi and Sasuke feel everyone else is far too beneath them to bother with that. Itachi is one of the most feared kids in school, but he is also respected. No one respects Gaara, except his deadliness. I am uncertain as to who would win in a fight between those two titans, but I really do not want to find out."

Kabuto paused to catch his breath. Smiling, Kabuto finished up. "Sorry, but that was a very long winded way to say that you need to avoid the Uchihas and Sabakus. I've got to go to bed now; it's around eleven, but if you need any more introducing to the school come find me."

* * *

BEEP 

BEEP

BEEP

BEEP

"God damn it!" Naruto reached over and slammed his fist in top of the alarm clock. Jumping out of bed, Naruto cursed again, hoping the school would not charge him for the shattered clock.

He glanced over to look at his roommate Shikamaru, but the other boy had already gone.

"Great." Naruto muttered sarcastically. "Now, what am I supposed to do?"

"Well, lucky for you, today you don't have any classes. You'll get your schedule today and start attending class tomorrow."

Naruto jumped and whirled around, startled. "How does everyone sneak up on me like that?! It's really annoying."

Kabuto gave yet another chuckle. "What can I say? We are all sly and sneaky creatures at this school. We could probably ninja."

"A ninja? Kick ass! That would be so cool! I bet I'd be the best ninja ever; like the leader of them or something. Believe it!"

Kabuto stared at the weird boy. "Don't ever do that, again." Kabuto remarked, referring to the last statement Naruto had made. "We are getting off task. Follow me and I'll show you where the cafeteria is. Breakfast is from 8am to 9am; lunch is from 11:30 to 12:30; Dinner can be eaten anywhere from 5pm to 10pm. Its 8:30 right now, so you'd best hurry up."

"Just me?"

"I already ate."

* * *

When Naruto was ready five minutes later, Kabuto and him walked toward the cafeteria, which was packed. 

"This is a pretty small cafeteria for such a wealthy Prep School." Naruto remarked as he began piling food onto his tray. "But it is cool how all the food is free."

"Our parents pay for all of the food costs. The Leaf Academy takes only the best, so our student body is fairly limited. Less the a hundred per grade. Since you do not like the brightest of kids, I'll explain this simply. There are two main groups: cool kids, and losers. There are many sub categories as I'm sure you'll find out, but make sure you're sticking with the right group. All losers are scum, avoid them. Nevertheless, while most cool kids get along, some sub classifications do not work well with each other. Be careful who you talk to."

"Everyone keeps telling me that, and it's getting really annoying. I'm no that stupid I need people to repeat everything they tell me over and over." Naruto snapped as he sat down at the end of a table with Kabuto.

Kabuto looked down his nose arrogantly at him. "We shall see about that, won't we?"

Naruto looked around the cafeteria trying to find any of the students he had been warned about. "Oh, there is that jerk, Kankuro. I'm still mad that he called me weak."

"Well, you could use some more muscle. Especially, if you are going to try out for any sports."

Naruto looked at his new friend with a small gleam in his eye. "Sports? Sweet! What's offered?"

"A lot, but the ones you would be more interested in would be Football, Soccer or Basketball. Since you are desperate to prove yourself, those get the most recognition and respect."

"Hasn't football already started?" Naruto asked after he swallowed his mouthful of food.

"Nope, our league starts much later, because we want our last game to correspond with when the NFL playoffs start. In fact, if you really want to join, there is meeting this afternoon if you want to try out."

* * *

Directly after everyone had been dismissed form their afternoon class, Naruto walked toward the gym locker-room. Kabuto had completed Naruto's tour, so he felt fairly confident about not getting lost. 

He walked over to a man holding a clipboard with long black hair, and a strange earring dangling from his left ear.

"Are you the coach? Mr. Manda?"

"Yes." Something about the coach's tone sent shivers down his spine. It was masculine and feminine at the same time, making the older man sound creepy. "If you are trying out go wait over there."

When Naruto sat down, Coach Manda addressed the hopefuls. Naruto watched as the coach read the list of names on his clipboard.

"Most of you I can eliminate right now. Rock Lee, get out of here."

A boy wearing an all green version of the uniform stood up. Pouting with a ridiculous face, the boy whined, "Why? I'm much better this year. I'm now really fast."

Cackling, the coach responded. "Am I to believe that you went from being one of the slowest kids I've seen to super fast. Oh, I'm sure you ran all day and all night everyday since I last cut you, and all that hard work paid off. Yeah right! Now, LEAVE!" The coach looked scary, as he snapped the last sentence at the whimpering boy.

Lee instead dropped down on his knees and pleaded to the coach. "Zabuza!"

"Yes, sir."

"Remove this trash from my sight. Take the Akimichi brat while you're at it."

Chouji, the disgusting boy stood up. "Why me too? I'd be a really good linebacker, and from what I hear your team is lacking a good defense and offensive line."

"You are leaving because you are a filthy, repulsive boy. You should not even be at this school, let alone a sports team."

Before either of the boys could reply, Zabuza Momochi, one of the assistant coaches yanked both boys up and chucked them out the door.

"Tenten get out of here as well. How many times must I tell you the league does not let girls play. Go talk to Temari about a girl's sport or Ino about cheerleading."

The only girl stood up and walked out the way Rock Lee and Chouji had been removed, grumbling to herself.

"Oh, Kankuro. I did not see you there boy. I'm glad that you finally decided to join the team. That's marvelous. You can leave of you want, because you made it."

The jerk stood up and walked out grinning at all the other candidates.

"Talk to one of my assistant coached tomorrow about practice and your jersey and other important things like that."

"We don't have many slots open, so I would not get my hopes too high if I were you. I am Coach Manda, but please feel free to call me Orochimaru."

* * *

If any of you have played the game Bully for PlayStation 2 you will notice some slight—and not so slight—allusions. Bully is highly recommended to everyone, as long as you don't mind its T. Nobody should since most eight-year olds I know—including my brother—play Halo and other M games all the time. 

While Bully is some of my inspiration, it is limited. This idea has been in my head for a while, but Bully was the final piece to get it started. This is not a rehash of the plot. In fact, I've already deviated from the original story.

I realize that Naruto was a tad OOC this chapter, and Chouji's habits were also exaggerated. However, fear not, because this should not last much longer—at least Naruto won't. Who knows about Chouji?

From now on, I will try to un-cliché this story. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Pairings are open to any and all suggestion, except Yaoi and incest. Remember that this is High School so most pairings won't last long. That may be good and bad for you, but for me it means I can do some pretty unorthodox pairings and be able to give reasonable explanation.

Last note. I know many of you may know nothing about football. If you don't, leave a review and I'll explain the basics next chapter. If you do…leave a review anyway. I will try to not use OC's but in order to have a convincing student body there will have to be more than thirty kids. If you have any ideas on what canon characters should appear that I might not remember please tell me. I already have roles for Rookie Nine, Gai's Team, Sand Team, Haku, Sound Genin Team (Dosu, Zaku, Kin) Sound Five, Zabuto's Genin Team and Akatsuki. If there is anyone else, please tell me.


	2. Not So Bad

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

* * *

"Yo man, I tore that place up. Me and some kid named Kiba were definitely the best two there. I'm expecting my jersey any minute now." Naruto exclaimed, as he and Kabuto walked to the cafeteria for breakfast. He was still excited about how he did at last night's try out.

"If I were you I wouldn't wait until the end of the week. That's when Orochimaru usually posts the results." Kabuto replied.

"What? But Kankuro was passed immediately, Orochimaru didn't take long then,"

"I said if I were **you**, not **Kankuro**."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly as it sounded. Kankuro has some high connections; I would be appalled if he did not make it."

"Just how high are these connections?"

"The father of the Sand Siblings is the Kazekage." Seeing Naruto's blank look, Kabuto explained. "You know what the Hokage is right?"

"Yeah, the leader of the Land of Fire," Naruto said as he grabbed a tray and began helping himself to danishes.

"Correct. The Hokage is based here in the Land of Fire's Capitol, Konoha. The Kazekage rules over another city in the Land of Fire, Suna. In essence, Kankuro's father is considered second in command, since Suna is the second largest city."

"Why do his kids go here if their dad is in Suna?"

"Unfortunately, no one is one-hundred percent sure. Some say that their dad went crazy and tried to kill the youngest, Gaara, but since the Kazekage had so much political power only a secret restraining order was set. Others say that they come here because this is the best school in the nation. You figure out the real reason, and you'll be famous around here."

Once the two had their food, Kabuto led him to a sparsely populated table. "Hey guys," Kabuto greeted as he sat down. "Where is everyone?"

"Football meeting," one of them replied cheerily.

Kabuto blinked in surprise. "Well, then I better go. What are you still doing here? You're are star running back after all."

"Wait. You play football, Kabuto?" Naruto asked, shocked.

"Yup. I'm a cornerback, but I'm not very good. My dad won a Heismann in college, so I must uphold the family's football legacy."

"Oh, and you play too?" Naruto asked the other boy, Haku.

"Yes, I do. I'm not at the meeting because Zabuza gave me permission to not come. It is supposedly a boring meeting about who should make it on the team."

"Please, call him Coach Momochi. It's disconcerting to think he is nice to anyone, and of all people it's you. Strange." Kabuto said, as he shook his head and strolled away.

"Are you new here?" Haku asked Naruto.

"Yeah. I'm Naruto Uzumaki."

"I am pleased to meet you. I am Haku Momochi."

Naruto spit the milk he had been drinking, and sputtered, trying to stop his coughing fit.

Haku hit Naruto's back and asked concernedly if he was all right.

Ignoring the question, Naruto asked, "Your last name is Momochi? As in Zabuza Momochi?"

"Yes, that is correct." Haku replied, cheery again, dawning a huge grin.

"He is your dad?"

"Well…sort of. He adopted me around ten years ago, while I was traveling the streets."

"Wow. That must've been tough. Sorry to bring it up."

"Oh, I don't mind talking about it. I feel there should be no secrets between friends."

Haku's smile was so contagious, Naruto found himself grinning as well. Maybe this school would not be so bad.

* * *

Shikamaru hated gym. In gym class, the teachers always made the students do stuff, and Shikamaru hated doing stuff.

Sighing, Shikamaru ran the last warm-up lap and waited for the few kids slower than him to finish. Shikamaru was not out of shape—far from it, in his opinion—but he just did not feel like running—not now, not ever. To him it was a cruel and unusual punishment inflicted upon him daily, and he could never understand some kids could not only tolerate running, but like it.

Finally, Shikamaru's friend Chouji completed his laps, practically rolling the last few feet.

"I…made…it." Chouji panted, as he lay on the finish line.

Extending a hand to his friend Shikamaru tried to help him up. Unfortunately, Chouji weighed far too much for Shikamaru to make a difference. Chouji eventually recovered enough to rise on his own.

"Now, my youthful students, listen up. I have great news! Our class is going to be playing dodge ball tomorrow against the class of my eternal rival, Kakashi! So today we must prepare, so that tomorrow we will be in our Springtime of Youth!"

Shikamaru lazily raised his hand, at the same time Sakura's hand darted into the air. Gai called on Sakura. _Big surprise_, he thought.

"Sir, doesn't Kakashi only teach Konoha's elite students in one on one sessions? How would that work, since he does not really have one large class, like we do?"

"Yes, Sakura, you are right. Good thing you caught that, because I don't think any of these other slackers would have." Gai responded enthusiastically. Shikamaru sighed, _How troublesome._ "Each student Kakashi teaches individually will be here."

"ALL of them?! Sir, that would be more than twenty students, compared to our eleven kids," Chouji gasped.

"Not every single student he teaches, half-wit, only the other sophomores that he instructs." Gai replied.

"Which ones are coming?" Sakura asked curiously. Sakura truly only cared if one particular student was coming. "He's only bringing five students. That arrogant rival of mine, thinking he's so cool; he's going to try and make me lose when he has a handicap."

Noticing that the older man's muttering was about to transform into one of his rants, Sakura intervened. "Isn't he only teaching five at the moment?"

Gai calmed himself, breaking out into a huge smile. "Once again you're right Sakura. Good thing you caught that, because I don't think any of these other slackers would have." Shikamaru thought to himself _how troublesome,_ again. "Let's see. Who's he bringing, again?" Gai thought aloud to himself. "Oh, right! Two juniors, Temari and Neji, are coming, as are three juniors, Sasuke, Haku and Gaara." Collective groans sounded from Gai's gym class.

"Gaara's just gonna kill us, man." Kiba yelled from the back of the crowd. "And around than half of those guys are a year older than us."

"Settle down, class. This may **seem** to be a bleak situation, but I have faith in you. Besides, you outnumber them two to one."

"That didn't help us last time they beat us," Tenten muttered.

"Now, today, we're going to practice, so be sure to be extra youthful!" Gai said as he picked up one of the rubber balls from next to his feet where he had left it.

"Bombardment!" Gai yelled as he threw a ball at the nearest kid.

* * *

"I bet I can nail him."

"No way, dude. Five bucks says you can't."

"Watch me…after you show me the money."

"Look, man, I got it, so don't worry."

"Show me it, then."

"…" Was all that answered the boy.

"Oh." A brown-haired boy said. "Sorry, Zaku. I forgot."

"It's okay, man." Zaku responded, waving a hand, dismissing the matter. "Who cares if I can't afford it; the point is you can't hit Sasuke with that water balloon from here. Besides you couldn't afford it either, man."

Kiba ignored the last comment, and grinned on anticipation of proving his buddy wrong. "Watch me." With those words, Kiba wound up and chucked a water balloon off the school roof toward Sasuke Uchiha.

Shikamaru walked onto the roof then, hoping to watch the clouds in peace. Seeing two kids already up here, he sighed. _Something tells me I should leave, right now, _Shikamaru thought, but curiosity about what these two troublemakers were doing compelled him to stay.

Grinning in anticipation as Kiba watched its flight, he muttered to Zaku, "This'll show him for all the times he's made fun of us." Zaku began chuckling along with the dog-lover.

Sasuke looked up casually and hopped a few feet away from the water balloon lobbed at him. Ignoring the two delinquents that he knew were on top of the school, he continued to walk towards his session with Kakashi.

Groaning at seeing the balloon miss, both boys stood up to go inside, when something caught their eye. Two girls had just exited the school and were heading straight toward where the balloon was going to land.

A scream startled, Shikamaru. Wondering what was wrong he ran over to the edge and looked over to see two dripping wet girls and the remains of a red water balloon on the ground next to them.

"Shikamaru," Ino began slowly, as she made eye contact with the spiky-haired boy. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" Running back inside, the lazy boy sped toward safety, also known as Iruka's history class.

Kiba and Zaku cackled on the ground at the boy's misfortune, glad that Sakura had not seen him, as well.

"That was great. Pegging the blame on that loser: Priceless." Zaku laughed.

"It wasn't that great. Sure it was funny, but not really satisfying."

"What are you talking about man?" Zaku replied, as he stopped laughing.

"Think about it. Shikamaru isn't that bad, and we missed our target, Sasuke, and hit two innocents."

"Innocents? Ino and Kin are anything but innocent. You should rephrase that last part. You're not laughing 'cause you hit your little crush. Ino is not going to look at you dude, or Chouji, or Shino, or any of the other guys who 'love' her. You gotta be smart like me; lower your standards and you'll get plenty of ladies. Why not Hinata or Tenten? They should be pretty desperate by now.

Kiba grimaced in disgust. "No way man. I ain't ever going after girls like those. Besides I ain't that bad. I'm sure I can get any girl here if I put enough effort into it."

"Ten bucks says you can't."

"…"

"Oh. Right. Neither of us can afford that."

"And that is positively disgusting." A voice called out from behind the two boys. Kiba and Zaku turned to find one of the Preps. "It shall forever remain a mystery how two pathetic ghetto hounds as yourselves were accepted into this school." The other boy continued, his nose upturned, as he looked down at the two other boys arrogantly. "However, If you do a little something for me, I can make it so you could actually afford your gambling problems."

Kiba and Zaku looked at each other. While they did hate this prep's guts, they were known for doing...anything...as long as enough money was provided.

"How much?"

* * *

Gaara stalked down the school hallways. He had tested out of history, so he currently had a free period. After the boring football meeting, Gaara had tried to find solace anywhere he could.

Most people would be bored if they had to sit and think for hours at a time, but that is what Gaara spent of his time doing. He was an insomniac, getting fewer that ten hours of sleep a week—oftentimes less. He got so little sleep many doctors had thought he wasn't even human.

In fact, few people thought he was human. Many people mistook the dark circles under his eyes as face-paint, but they were scars. Scars of a dark time when he had felt emotions. Back when could actually feel.

No one could possibly understand him. He was hated and feared, and reveled in it. He needed to feel alive-any way possible. And if the only way to feel was to hurt others, he had no problem. He was more important then them anyway. He deserved to feel so much more than them. He needed BLOOD!

Gaara stopped walking and clutched his head. He had spells of…madness at times. A part of him needed blood, but the rest of him was perfectly content to leave everyone else so long as they did not bother him. Doctors told him he had Dissociative identity disorder, but these were the same doctors that called him a freak of nature, a demon.

Gaara walked into the cafeteria for lunch. He grabbed a tray, but barely remarked how most of the students leapt out of his way—even the seniors. Once he had his food, he walked over to where his 'friends' were.

In truth, Gaara did not have any friends. He did not want or need them, but he needed a place to sit, and decided that sitting with people was familiar with was better than total strangers.

Others, he had heard, called this the Jock/Prep table. The rich kids and members of football and cheerleading sat here.

A new face sat there: A blonde kid speaking with the longhaired kid on the football team. Neji? No that one had freaky eyes. It was…Haku. That was it, Haku.

Eating silently, Gaara took his time, savoring his food. He did not have much to savor except his quiet and his food.

* * *

Naruto watched as a freaky red head sat down at the far end of the table, before he went back to talking with Haku about football.

"Do you think I'll make the team?"

"I don't know we only have a limited number of spaces available and that Kiba kid was much faster and stronger than you." Haku replied truthfully.

"I'm just a little out of shape; that's all. Some training in the weight room and I'll be good as new." Naruto beamed and gave Haku a thumbs up. Glancing down at his plate he realized it was empty. "I'm going to go get some more of this Ramen stuff; it's really good. I can't believe I've never heard of this stuff before."

Hopping up and grabbing a fresh tray, he loaded scoopfuls of noodles onto his plate. Naruto hummed as he did so. _I need to make a Ramen song; that would be so cool._

* * *

Tenten watched the new kid angrily. She had heard all about how he had made fun of her friend Chouji. _This'll teach him_, she though to herself, smirking evilly. Attaching some wire to a knife she threw it to a post that Naruto would need to pass to go back to his seat.

* * *

As Naruto practically skipped back to his table, he was precariously balancing his precious Ramen. Eyes staring at the top of the mound to make sure none fell, he did not see it.

A thin, almost transparent had miraculously appeared across his path, tripping him up.

Ramen flew everywhere, as Naruto collided with the ground on his chin, dazing him. He was aware enough, however, to notice the noodle slop land on that red headed boy's head.

* * *

_Oops, _Tenten thought as she watched event unfold. _I wanted to embarrass him, not kill him. Uh…I should probably leave now._

* * *

Naruto stared straight into the bright green eyes of the boy. Even with noodles dripping from the top of his head, Naruto was scared shitless at the intensity of the gaze. Gulping, Naruto hoisted himself to his feet. _Maybe this school will be that bad_, he thought.

* * *

This is my second story. My first, Generation Now, is a story about a the next group of ninja if you want to check that out. There are no Mary-Sue's if you are wondering; and if you don't believe me see for yourself.

I was struck with a reasonably brilliant idea today. I am the only one to my knowledge to have Zaku and Kiba friends. (I'm probably dead wrong and there are millions of those out there). They seemed a lot alike in this fic to me. Both were poor, brash and crass, so it was perfect.

I'm going to slowly introduce all of the characters in this story over the next few chapters, Hinata will show up next chapter if any of you are curious.

Tell me if anyone was too OOC. I've decided that during football season, I will use NFL teams as other high school teams. I'm sorry if your favorite team loses. If you don't watch NFL, I might use college. If you don't watch football, tell me and we can work something out.


	3. Oops

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

The red head's hand grabbed Naruto's neck as quick as lightning. Still holding onto Naruto the other boy stood up. Surprisingly, the kid was around the same height as Naruto himself. _Weird_, Naruto thought since Naruto had always been constantly teased for being short, and he expected such a dangerous looking kid to be…bigger.

Haku saw the catastrophe and jumped over to try to calm Gaara down.

"Gaara, listen to me. It was an accident; he did not mean to do it." Haku pleaded.

_So, this is Gaara. Too bad we met like this, the day after Kabuto warned me to avoid him._

Naruto struggled to free himself. However, it was not working very well; he was kicking against a brick wall, and trying to pry open a vice.

A large crowd had formed to watch the new kid be beaten to a pulp. Chanting "Fight!" repeatedly, they were in no hurry to help Naruto.

A blonde girl with four pigtails ran through the mass of people next to Haku. "Gaara please let him go. You can't kill him!" Temari yelled over the noisy chant.

"Don't tell me what to do, Temari!" Gaara snapped at his sister.

"Listen to you older siblings, squirt!" Kankuro exclaimed as he jogged next to his younger brother.

Gaara chuckled. "Hn. That's an amusing thought: me actually thinking of you two as my siblings." Suddenly, the borderline maniacal smile was gone, replaced by a vicious scowl. "I care nothing for either of you, so leave me alone." As the family feuded, Naruto dangled from Gaara's enclosed fist, gurgling for air—something he was quickly running out of.

Temari recoiled at the harshness of the boy's scathing response. Naruto noted—even though he should be distracted and was dazed—that she did not look at all surprised by what Gaara actually said, however.

Temari quickly recovered, though, and whispered something into Gaara's ear. "If you keep this up you'll prove dad right. You don't want that, do you?" That was the last thing he heard before he slipped into unconsciousness.

Gaara did not respond but dropped the slumped boy on the ground, and stalked away.

* * *

When Naruto awoke, the first thing he noticed was that he was lying in a comfortable bed.

"Oh, hello there, dear; I see that you are finally awake."

Naruto groaned and put his arm over his eyes to block out all the white that covered his vision. "Who are you? Where am I?"

"I am Shizune the school nurse, and you are in the school infirmary."

"How long was I out?" Naruto asked, still groggy.

"Not that long. You were not truly out for very long, less than five minutes, but you were in a state of semi-consciousness for a while, until you fell asleep. All in all, you were incapacitated for a couple of hours."

"Hours! That means I missed class. First day and I could not even go to half the day." Naruto closed his eyes, hoping that the day would somehow erase itself from existence.

"You may miss more, sweetie."

Naruto popped on eye and looked at the nurse in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"Depends on how the talk with the assistant principal goes." Shizune said, unconcerned as she continued to do paperwork.

"Wait. Why am I talking with the Headmistress?"

"She said Assistant Principal, boy. Listen, next time." Ibiki said as he swept into the nurses office. "Come with me and I'll tell you why I need to talk to you."

Grabbing a disoriented Naruto, and hoisting him to his feet, Ibiki marched down the hall, while Naruto tailed behind him worriedly.

Ibiki held his office door open for Naruto to pass through. As Naruto sat in one of the hard short chairs, Ibiki slammed the door behind him.

"You may be wondering why I called you in here." Ibiki started as he sat down and looked over steepled fingers. "You will be punished for breaking the rules. Here, at Leaf Academy, we take the rules very, very seriously."

Seeing Naruto trying to respond, Ibiki spoke right over him. "Fighting in the cafeteria is unacceptable!" Ibiki roared, as he slammed his hands down, onto his desk and glared into Naruto's face—now inches away.

"But, sir, I wasn't fighting. I tripped and spilled some food on that Gaara, kid. He overreacted and choked me! I didn't throw a punch or nothing!" Naruto pleaded, speaking in earnest.

Ibiki growled in disgust and leaned back in his cushy chair. "First of all, that grammar is horrible; fix it. Second, Gaara's father is a respectable man of the community; thus, his son will not be punished. It would be a shame to keep a boy with such amazing potential down for something as trivial as a little fight."

"The same trivial fighting, you're yelling at me about right now?" Naruto asked, sarcasm dripping from his words.

"Precisely, young man." Ibiki responded smirking at the boy. "Someone has to be punished, and if not Gaara than who? That leaves only you."

"Why me? You obviously don't care about the fight or you would punish the one who actually did it."

Ibiki chortled, and gave him a look that seemed to think it was obvious. "You're trash." He explained. "No one would care at all if you disappeared off the face of the earth forever. I'm punishing you, not for that little fighting innocent, but for doing nothing with yourself." Ibiki's stare was unsettling. It was not disgusted or spiteful, like earlier; it was almost…disappointed.

"I beg to differ, sir." Naruto replied struggling to contain his anger.

Ibiki ignored him. "Tell me boy, what are your aspirations? What do you want to be or accomplish in life."

Naruto thought about it a moment, before he shrugged. "I don't know. I've never really thought or cared about it."

Shaking his head, Ibiki sighed. "Certainly you have something you want to do. Is there anything you want to prove? Do you have any dreams?"

Naruto spent a few more minutes contemplating. "Well…I'm tired of people disrespecting me." Naruto began before he began to feel more confident. "I'm going to be Hokage; that way everyone will have to look up to me!"

Ibiki's booming laughter reverberated through the office.

Snarling, Naruto yelled, "Don't laugh! I will be Hokage someday; you'll see. And when I do you're going to regret this."

"How will you be Hokage, when you are a slacker? You don't car enough about anything to succeed; you have no drive." Still sniggering a bit, Ibiki tried to control himself.

"I am not a slacker. I work hard for my dreams."

"Dreams you did not even know you had until five minutes ago? I know your type, boy. You are not going anywhere in life."

Naruto growled. "I haven't been in this school for more than a day and already you're judging me."

"Then your transcript must have been lying then. It told me all about your past school experiences. You have been expelled from your last two schools, and the one before that you did not receive enough credits to pass the grade."

Ibiki pulled out a manila folder and began to read. "You have quite a few charges on this record. Skipping class, truancy, vandalism, destruction of school property, arson, a few fights, harassment, and the list goes on."

"That list isn't as truthful as it pretends. Most of those were harmless pranks I pulled. The arson, a little firecracker—through a series of unfortunate coincidences—set part of the building on fire. Odd stuff seems to happen to me all the time. Another example is right now. I did not really fight, but that's what is going on my permanent record."

Ibiki snorted. "Excuse me, but I somehow find these documents infinitely more reliable. I can't begin to imagine why, though." Ibiki sarcastically responded. "Normally, you would be given at least a three day suspension, but since this is your second day on campus, you will serve detention."

Naruto sighed, wondering if this was a sign of how the rest of the school year would be.

"Tomorrow night, meet your detention teacher at the park fountain. If you do not know where that is, ask someone who cares. Dismissed."

* * *

Kiba and Zaku sauntered to their employer of the moment. "Some of this stuff you want us to do is pretty involved. We're gonna need more money; your money." Zaku said as he held out his hand expectantly.

Growling the other student slapped some hundred-dollar bills into the other's hand. "This should cover it."

"Also, we may need some other people for this. You've got to pay them the same amount as us, and bring 'em up to speed on what we're doin'." Kiba replied, also holding his hand out expectantly. More money was slapped down, along with more grumbling.

"Fine," the other snapped. "You do know that if this doesn't work you owe me every single cent back."

"No worries, bro. Nothing is going to go wrong."

"Just leave. I think your dog stench may be infective."

* * *

"Did you hear?"

"Yeah, some idiot tried to pick a fight with Gaara?"

"I saw it. Gaara laid the kid out. They had to take him to the nurse."

"Anyone know who it was?"

"It was some new kid. His name was Namiko or something like that."

"Naruto, dude. Naruto Uzumaki."

As Sasuke walked through the halls, all he heard was the same conversation over and over again. They were different people, of all grades and popularity, saying the same thing.

Sasuke doubted any of it was true, though. No one would be dumb enough to go up against Gaara. Even if he was new, one of the first things Kabuto told newcomers was who to avoid if you wanted to survive at this school.

"Uchiha!" Someone yelled down the hallway. Sasuke stopped and turned to see Deidara jogging toward him.

"Deidara." Sasuke greeted in return. "Still have your arm in that cast, I see." Sasuke said snidely.

"Yeah, it is. I'm so glad that you're so concerned, yeah." Deidara responded sarcastically. "Your brother wants to know why you were not at the meeting, yeah."

Sasuke turned around and began to walk away. "I didn't feel like it."

As he was walking away from Deidara, Sasuke ran into Temari. "You mean you didn't feel like watching your brother as Quarterback. Everyone knows that you're jealous."

"Shut up, Temari. No one asked you, so go away."

"She's right, yeah. Itachi is big man on campus and you're not even in the top ten."

Sasuke ignored the two as he resumed walking toward his class.

"Whatever, yeah. Your brother isn't going to like your answer." Deidara turned and sauntered back toward Itachi.

"Sasuke," Temari yelled after him. "Wait." She jogged next to him. "I need you to watch Gaara for me tonight."

Sasuke snorted. "I think your little brother is old enough to not need a baby sitter."

Temari glanced wryly at him, frustrated he did not understand. "You heard about the little scuffle he got into during lunch?" She asked.

Sasuke stopped and looked at her in surprise. "That actually happened? I thought it was another one of those fake rumors."

"Yup, it actually happened. And, now, I think Gaara is a little…unstable. I need you to make sure nothing gets out of hand while I'm gone."

"Where are you going to be?"

"I have a date?"

"With who?"

"Why so curious? Jealous?"

Sasuke snorted again. "No way."

Temari ignored the comment. "I am going with Neji Hyuga."

"How did that ever work out?"

"Our parents are apparently old friends, and thought it would be 'cute' if we went on a date together. It's only a one time thing."

Sasuke smirked at her. "That's what you said about us, but we dated for three months."

Temari chose to pay no heed to his insolence. "So, will you do it or not?"

After pondering for a few minutes, Sasuke finally agreed.

"Thanks, Sasuke. I promise I'll make it up to you."

"Whatever. I've got to go to class now."

As Sasuke continued to walk, he still heard the whisperings and murmurs seeping from the nooks and crannies of the school. This time he did not think about the fool, but instead what it would like to fight someone like Gaara. After all, Gaara was considered just beneath Sasuke's older brother, Itachi. So if Sasuke could topple Gaara, he might stand a chance of finally showing up his brother. Smirking, Sasuke finally decided to take action; it was time to step out of the eldest Uchiha's shadow.

* * *

"Good morning, Sasuke." Kakashi greeted as he arrived a few minutes later than he should have.

Sasuke bowed to his sensei. "Greetings, Kakashi-sensei. What will you we be doing today."

"**You** will work on your martial arts exercises this fine morning, while **I **read my novel. It's at the best part and I can't afford to waste a second." Kakashi said as he lowered himself onto the ground, keeping his only visible eye on his book.

Sasuke was not fool enough to think that he was not being watched. Kakashi could do nearly impossible things like that, and Sasuke never bothered to question how. If he did, he would probably receive some long-winded lie that did not remotely answer the question. In fact, most of Kakashi's answers left all the original questions unanswered, and only posed more questions.

He also knew that Kakashi was not just being lazy today. Everything the mysterious man did had a reason. _He is probably testing to make sure that I can do these basics by myself, so I can practice in my free time, _Sasuke thought.

Silently, the raven-haired boy began his exercises.

* * *

Naruto hauled himself to his room, exhausted after his 'incident.' As he passed through the hallways to his dorm, he heard all the whispers. He could not make out exactly at what they said, but at the way they all looked and pointed at him, he could figure it out.

_Great_, he thought. _I've barely set foot in this school and things are already blowing up in my face. At least I have my friends, Kabuto and Haku._

Speaking of the devil, he noticed Kabuto walking slowly toward him. "I thought I warned you, Naruto." He said as he stepped in line with the winded boy.

"You did, but it was an accident. I tripped over some weird wire and spilled my food. Unfortunately--"

"Naruto," Kabuto intervened. "I already know what happened. I know everything that happens in this school. However, accident or not, you're stepping deeper into hot water--boiling actually. Water that even I cannot bail you out of. I know you don't want a lecture, so I'm only going to tell you one more thing. Watch it."

As he watched Kabuto stroll away, Naruto shook his head. Stumbling into his room Naruto dropped onto his bed, and immediately fell asleep.

* * *

I am sorry, Naruto fans. Gaara crushed Naruto, because, one, I like Gaara, and, two, if Naruto ruled the school in the third chapter this story would be much worse than it is now—in my opinion.

Since, in high school, couples never date for long I can experiment with some of the less common pairings. Neji and Temari is a perfect example. As is the ex- Temari and Sasuke. Don't worry, if your favorite character has not been introduced yet, they will be soon. Review and tell me if they are not appearing fast enough, though. If there is a character that has been introduced, but you want to see more of, tell me and they'll return.


	4. Physics

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

* * *

"Yo wassup, dogs?" A loud boy yelled as he entered the room. "Where've you two been?" 

"Zaku," A raspy voiced snapped. "Keep your voice down."

Kiba walked in behind, the reprimanded student. When he did, he felt like he was about to throw up.

"Holy shit!" Kiba shouted in alarm. "What the fuck happened to you?"

"Shut up, Kiba." A girl snarled. "Dosu is feeling a little…under the weather, right now."

Zaku stared in shock at his friend, Dosu. "That's the understatement of the year! Half of his fucking face is burned off!"

A voice, as rough as sandpaper, replied. "There was an accident, a few weeks ago. Kin and I were going to exact some revenge against that Sasuke. Things did not go as planned and I was rushed to the hospital for severe burns to my face."

Dosu paused for a few seconds to rest his coarse voice. Seeing, Dosu's trouble finishing, Kin stepped in. "You were unlucky enough to come in while we were changing his bandages. It has to be done once a week, and it is easier for me to help him."

"Those damn Uchihas always getting the best of us!" Zaku roared, punching the wall next to him. "Next time we'll show those punks not to mess with us."

Soon after Dosu the wrappings were in place, Kiba remarked, "Hey, you can only see your left eye. That's a hell of a lot of bandages. You look like a mummy. How long will you need to wear them?"

"The doctors said anywhere from six months to the rest of my life. So, no time soon."

"What were you guys trying to do for this to happen?"

"I would rather not talk about it."

"That's cool," Zaku responded. "Oh, before I forget, we came here to ask you guys for a few favors."

"What?"

"We got a job that we need some more people for; you in?"

"Of course."

* * *

When Naruto woke up, he noticed that Shikamaru was, again, not there. Shrugging, he jumped out of bed and raced to the cafeteria. He stopped right outside the doors, and peaked in to make sure that a certain redhead was not there. 

Relieved, he skipped to the Ramen stand and loaded his tray to the max.

"Hi, Haku!" He greeted as he jumped into the seat next to the longhaired boy. "Did you have good day yesterday."

"It was fine. Unfortunately, after you were nearly killed by Gaara--"

"God! I am so tired of hearing about Gaara. Gaara this; Gaara that; watch out for Gaara; careful Gaara is right behind you. Isn't there anyone else in this school to talk about beside him?"

"That you need to watch out for? No. You are way too far Itachi and his gang of friend's notice."

Seething in his chair, Naruto growled. "Fine. Where is the weight room?"

"Why?"

"I am tired of being the new kid, who gets his ass kicked around."

"So, you are going to train?"

"Non-stop for days on end if I must."

"No offense, Naruto, but you look like someone like Shikamaru."

"What's so bad about the Nara kid?"

"Nothing he's just really lazy, and never completes his promises."

"I never go back on my word; that's my new way." Naruto slammed his hand down on the table. "I don't quit, and I don't run!"

Everyone in the cafeteria stopped in mid-bite. They were all watching the new kid; usually it took at least a few months before insanity started to hit. Seeing, their entertainment calm down, they went back to eating and talking.

"Well, after that, I hope you follow through."

"Thanks Haku. I'm done and want to get an early start. Please, tell me where the gym is."

"Sure."

* * *

"Naruto!" 

Naruto looked behind him, to see Kabuto jogging towards him. When the silver-haired boy was near him, he slowed and fell in step with the blonde.

"Hey, Kabuto, what's up?"

"Actually something huge, in my opinion at least. I'm running for student council president."

"Cool! Good luck, man. I'll vote for you."

"Thank you, Naruto. However, I was curious if you could do me a favor. I am running against Sasuke Uchiha--"

"I just want to say right now, that I am not going to be a part of any sabotage plans."

Kabuto chuckled. "No, it's nothing like that. I need you to help put up signs, hand out flyers, pretty much act as a campaign manager."

Naruto was stunned for moment. "You'd really let me be your campaign manager? Thanks, man! No one has ever let me do something like this!"

Kabuto smirked. "Well, I couldn't ask for a better person. There are others working on it as you probably guessed."

After blinking his eyes, Naruto nodded vigorously. "Of course, I knew that. Why wouldn't I?"

"Meet with Ino today after school, so you can start working on it—if you don't mind, of course." Kabuto said completely ignoring Naruto's antics.

Naruto lost his smile. "Sorry, I can't do it tonight. I have my detention."

"Oh, right, silly me." Kabuto responded, slapping his palm to his forehead. "I forgot. Will tomorrow night work, then?"

"Yup. See you there." Naruto gave a huge grin and continued on his quest to the weight room.

* * *

"Hey, newbie!" 

_What is it with this hallway? Is this where people wait to ambush me?_ Naruto thought.

"Yeah?" he asked, seeing a strange girl striding toward him. She had twisted her hair into two buns, and was wearing boy's gyms. No doubt, that this was a tom-girl. "Who are you?"

"I am Tenten."

"Any last name?"

Suddenly, the girl snapped. Shaking a fist at the new boy, she yelled, "None of your business, douchebag!"

Naruto took a half step back, and raised his hands in an effort to calm the girl. "Sorry, I didn't mean any offense."

Tenten took a deep breath. "So, what's your name?"

"Naruto Uzumaki." He replied without hesitation.

"I hate you."

Naruto blinked in surprise. This was one really strange girl.

"I hate your type." She continued.

"You think that you're all cool. You think you can just walk in and step on all the losers here. But, you are dead wrong!"

"I don't know where all this anger is coming"

"Like hell you don't! I heard about what you said about Chouji. He did not deserve it, and worse he knows all about what you said. People delight in making fun of him anew, 'cause even the new kid laughs at him."

Naruto's face darkened. He was angry—with himself, the girl and the world in particular.

"Look, I know what it's like to be humiliated and made fun of. I would not wish it on anyone. Sometimes, I am brutally honest, and it came out"

"Don't give me any of those lame ass excuses! I bet you were never teased."

"At my last school, everyone hated me."

"Tell me why, and I may believe."

"No," Naruto said, his frown still plastered onto his face. "It's…personal. I am not going to share it with anyone, especially some girl I met five minutes ago."

"Maybe, I was a bit of a jerk," Naruto continued talking over her attempted rebuttal. "But this is a new school, and I don't want to be the loser, anymore. If you had the chance to start yourself over would you?"

"No!" Tenten exclaimed, without hesitation.

"Y-yes. I would." A soft voice whispered from their side.

Both Naruto and Tenten looked over to see a small girl, staring at them—Naruto in particular. When she realized that she had been spotted, she squeaked and froze—her entire body perfectly rigid and straight.

"Hello, Hinata." Tenten greeted a little annoyed. "Would you mind explaining to us what you just said?"

"W-well, I thought that if I had the chance to be someone else—recreate my self—I would take it. I don't want to go through life, the shy, rich, loser girl." Naruto had to strain his ears to hear the short girl.

"And I would rather have friends that truly cared about me." Tenten spat. "Hinata we're friends, right?" After seeing Hinata nod, she continued. "Would you change yourself, if it meant losing me as a friend?"

Hinata quickly glanced at the blonde boy, before she answered quietly. "I would want b-both: to r-recreate myself, to make n-new friends and to k-keep my old f-friends."

"Fun as this has been, you two, I've got to go, now. See you later!" Naruto abruptly left, sprinting down the hall.

Seeing her victim escaping, Tenten chased after it.

"Get back here, you jerk!"

Hinata watched the two leave, poking two of her fingers together. She liked the new boy, and did not really like Tenten trying to make things difficult for him.

As Hinata walked into Physics, she sighed and sat down at her seat. Few students took the course long enough to get into AP Physics. Most took Biology or Chemistry. Even though, she had been in this class for weeks—since school started—she still did not know any of the other students.

Hinata was perpetually shy, and could not bring herself to talk to any strangers, which meant she did not make many friends, which meant she was less confident in herself, as she continued in a never-ending spiral of self-loathing and insecurity.

Sakura and Tenten were the only people she considered to be her friends, but at times Hinata secretly thought that they only barely tolerated her presence. _No, I am just being paranoid, again. Sakura and Tenten really are my friends._

The other handful of students were talking and laughing, while Hinata sat at her desk, attempting to make herself as small as possible.

"Settle down class." The teacher yelled as he walked in. The chain smoker was one of her better teachers. Many of the faculty members at the school were extremely rude to the non-elite. Baki, Orochimaru, Zabuza, Ibiki, and Ebisu--even Anko and Hayate at times—were all snobby. Nice to the ones with promising futures, and terrible to those worth nothing, in their eyes.

"Hello?" Hinata's heart beat faster, as she watched her crush, Naruto walk into the room. "I was told to come here. I just transferred so I may need to catch up."

"We'll deal with that later. Just sit next over there."

"Next to that girl…Hinata?" It had taken a few moments to recall her name.

"No, you'll be sitting next to Sasuke Uchiha. The boy with black hair."

"Okay."

Once Naruto sat down, Asuma began his lesson. "We will be quickly reviewing projectile motion, today, to make sure none of you forgot since last year."

"Shino." Asuma pointed at the boy with his cigarette, as he called on him. "If I drop a bomb from a plane going 300 miles per hour, what is its acceleration? Neglecting air resistance, of course."

A creepy, silent in the boy answered; his voce was soft, but strong, and devoid of almost all emotion. "In the x direction 0, and the y direction 9.8m/s/s, assuming of course that they are on earth."

"Very good. Kimimaro, neglecting air resistance, if I punt a football 50 miles per hour at an angle of 30 degrees above horizontal, what is the initial velocity in the x direction."

After a few moments of punching in the numbers on his calculator, Kimimaro answered. "43.3 miles per hour, sir."

"Excellent! Who would care to explain how he got that? No one?" Asuma scanned the classroom. "Naruto, how about you."

"Uh…he got that by…err…I don't know."

"Are you stupid?" The boy next to Naruto, asked. "This is one of the easiest problems Asuma will give us. What are you doing in AP physics, if you don't even know the honors physics material?"

"Settle down, Sasuke." Asuma said, intervening before a fight broke out. "Why don't you help Naruto out."

"Of course, sir. All you need to do is take the cosine of 30 and multiply it by 50. It is simple."

"I see that most of you grasp the concept, but just to be sure, turn to page 127 in your books, and do these problems." Asuma said pointing the board, where the problem numbers were, with his cigarette. "Naruto, please come here."

When Naruto was in front of the teacher's office, Asuma whispered so that none of the other students could hear. "Boy, you seem a bit shaky with this stuff. Are you sure that you'll be okay in this class? There may have been a mistake, and even if there was no mistake, we can still bump you down into another class."

Naruto ground his teeth together. He knew that Asuma was trying to help him, but it was aggravating all the same.

Barely unclenching his teeth, Naruto responded. "No thank you, sir. I am perfectly capable of handling it?"

"Even if you put all of your effort into it, some kids just don't get physics. I'm going to move you down, son. It'll be better, trust me."

"No, sir. Wait. I need to prove to everyone that I'm not some moron on legs. Let me take this class, and I swear if I fail the midterm, that you can bump me down."

"If you manage to get a C, you can stay. But, remember when you fail it, you won't get a credit for either class."

"With all due respect, sir, I am going to kick that test's ass."

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**Author's Notes**

Naruto's loss against Gaara is what will motivate him to become the stamina monster he is in the show. Since Demons don't exist in real life he can't draw on that strength. By the way, what should Kyuubi be or how should it appear. Would he be a student? That would be really wierd though, and his abilities wouls have to be greatly depowered.

Dosu got burned, because I needed a way to cover is face. Most people don't walk around with their faces covered in real life without a real reason. Maybe some freaky people do, but Dosu certainly would not.

I am goinf to keep piling even more problems onto Naruto. This will keep going for a while, or until he loses everything--whichever one I feel like having come first.

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	5. Discovery

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

Words cannot describe the shame I felt after my last chapter. Giving it a quick glance over not too long ago to re-read what I wrote, I noticed critical, embarrassing errors. I accidentally put a question mark instead of a period, spelled the word going as goinf, and probably many others. It is true I could blame Spell Check for missing them, but in actuality, it is my job as the writer to catch those mistakes.

If there are any repeat mistakes that you notice in this chapter please tell me. In addition, is there any way to fix those mistakes without losing all the reviews the chapter received? If so, please tell me.

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A chilled Naruto walked through the park at dusk, as the frosty September weather nipped through his windbreaker. At the end of the school day—when all of the jerks and idiots that filled the school were inside and away from him—this school became actually tolerable.

No one else was at the park, because the cold and dark had scared them all back in, and nothing could have pleased Naruto more. _Right_ _now, I want to just think by myself, _he thought. _Haku and Kabuto are cool, but we are not really that close. Haku has so many other friends that he rarely has time to hang with me, especially since most of his other friends hate my guts. Kabuto is just…weird. He acts nice and friendly toward me, but sometimes I get weird signals from him._

While still pondering his few acquaintances at the academy, a noise startled him from his increasingly depressing thoughts.

"Huh?" he asked aloud. Waiting for a few more minutes, he strained his ears, listening for the sound again. One of the few advantages that he knew he had over other people was an almost abnormally acute sense of hearing, so if he could not hear it, no one could.

After a few more minutes of motionless silence, Naruto finally heard it again. It was a high-pitched whine originating from some bushes to his left. Curious, Naruto slowly stalked closer to the noise. When he was close enough, Naruto quickly parted the bush's leaves to find a surprise.

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Neji stalked toward her door. There were a million other things he would rather be doing than subjecting himself to a date with Temari. She was petty, sadistic, conniving, cruel and—worse of all—a gossip hound.

Pounding on the door, he waited irritably for his date to answer it. Looking down at himself, again, he smiled. The best part of this horrible date would be wearing his favorite suit. He loved wearing suits; they made him feel powerful. However, no amount of power would make him look forward to this date. He could not understand why his father was torturing him like this.

When Temari opened the door, he greeted her woodenly, and, like the gentleman he was, offered his arm to escort her.

However, he was forced to do a double take, not because she was wearing a stunning dress made for prom, but her clothes were rather…ordinary. She still looked nice, he guessed, but not what he was expecting. She wore jeans, a red blouse, and a white sweater-jacket thing. Neji furrowed his brow trying to recall what the name of the thing she was wearing over her shirt, but was drawing blanks. He assumed it was just a called a jacket.

"Why are you wearing a suit?" She asked, equally puzzled at his choice of clothing as he was hers.

"Uhh…I assumed that we would be going to a fancy restaurant." Neji replied slowly, wondering what she had been planning on doing—especially after she laughed at him.

Still giggling, she told him her plans. "No, silly, we're going to a nightclub."

"A nightclub?" He asked, as he started to panic.

"Yup." She replied as she pulled her past his Mercedes and over to her Porsche.

Pulling out of her hand, he shouted, "Wait!" After they both recovered from his outburst, Neji frantically thought of a way out of his predicament. "Umm…Oh look, I'm not dressed to go to a club. Too bad, it seems like we can't go."

Frowning, Temari stared at Neji, before she smiled and clapped her hands with delight. Tugging his necktie, she brought him closer.

A mere five minutes later she had changed him—his appearance at least. She had stripped him of his suit jacket and his tie—tossing them away into the wind—unbuttoned and un-tucked his white dress shirt—leaving his white under shirt exposed—and mussed up his long, perfectly straight hair.

Neji looked down at himself in shock. He was appalled! He was disgusted! He was completely shred of all the dignity and power his clothes had provided.

"What is the meaning of this?!" He shouted.

"You told me you weren't dressed for a club, so I fixed you." She calmly replied, leaning against her Porsche with her arms folded.

"I didn't need to be fixed!" He yelled exasperatedly. "I only said that, because I did not want to go to any stupid nightclub!" Neji promptly shut his mouth. He had not planned on telling her that, but it was too late, now.

"I thought as much, but now you don't have an excuse to not go." She replied calmly, as she filed her nails. "Why do you not want to go, anyway? Am I not good enough for you or something like that?"

"No," he lied. He really did not like the stories he had heard about her—they were only stories since this was actually the first time they had met. However, that was only half of it—the less important half, too. "I have never been to a club, and I have never wanted to go to a club. Vile delinquents visit clubs, and infest the place like a nasty sickness.

Temari shook her head at his snobbishness. She was snobby too, but not about nightclubs. "So you don't like me, and think clubs are too dirty." Seeing him about to protest about liking her, she cut him off. "I can tell you don't like me; it's fairly obvious. Honestly, I don't care; I did not want to go on this date, either."

After pausing a few minutes, a realization hit her. Narrowing her eyebrows, she asked him, "You can dance though, right?"

Neji froze. That was his major reason he did not want to go. He could tolerate any number of annoying girls or filthy dance halls, as long as he did not embarrass himself. He was a Hyuga; humiliation was intolerable.

"Of course, I can dance." Neji smirked as he responded.

"You can't dance," she crowed, calling him out on his lie. Neji grit his teeth and ground them together. "I can too dance!" He roared.

"Than come with me and prove it." Temari cooed, patting her car that she was still leaning on. Neji shut up, quickly. Temari sighed. "You have to come, our parents practically ordered it, so hop in the car. You probably want to get their early, so fewer people see you making a fool of yourself."

Mumbling under his breath, Neji got into the passenger seat, and slammed the door shut. Temari climbed in, and after grinning like a maniac, shot out of the school's grounds.

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"C'mon Kiba! We need to get this done by next week, so stop lollygagging and help me with this!" Kin yelled as she looked up from her computer to glare at the boy, sleeping on the couch. Was sleeping anyway, Kin's harsh shout had startled Kiba awake.

Kiba yawned, as he lay sprawled over a few beanbags he had piled together in the dorm's common room. Kiba lived in the house for those with 'financial needs,' which meant that the dorm was crap and all the other occupants were dirt poor, like him.

Kiba and the other kids in the 'economically challenged' section were only accepted into the school because the school wanted a more diverse student body. Several years ago, an altruistic Headmaster had enrolled some of the hard luck cases from the surrounding neighborhoods into the school. When he moved on two years ago, everyone thought that the program would die with him, but the new Headmistress, Tsunade, was equally as nice as the previous and let the students like Kiba stay.

"What's the rush?" Kiba asked as he tried to go back to sleep.

Kin, who was quickly losing her patience, yelled at Kiba with exasperation. "We've got to get it done by the 27th, because the election is on September 27, moron! Did you seriously forget everything, he told you?!"

"I knew that," Kiba snapped. "I meant why bother rushing through it now. It's the third, now; we have, like, practically a month."

Sighing, Kin decided it would be less stressful if she just ignored Kiba and found someone else to help her. Standing up and stretching, she went to go get Zaku.

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"A fox?" Naruto asked to himself, confused what a baby fox was doing there. Eventually getting over his surprise, Naruto realized the fox seemed to be unable to move. Trying to help it, he reached out to pick it up.

"Ow!" Naruto retracted his hand. "Damn fox bit my finger," he muttered as he stuck his bleeding finger in his mouth. Taking a better look at the fox, he realized it was not only scared, but injured as well. The fox tried to get up and run away but as it stood its leg crumpled beneath it, sending it into a heap back on the ground.

"It looks like you broke your leg. How did you manage that?" he asked, aware that it would not respond, but not really caring. Naruto sighed. His logical side knew that bringing taking in a fox would cause a whole truckload of problems that he did not need—especially with all the other problems he had—but to his vexation his conscious would not permit him to leave this baby animal alone with a broken leg.

Sighing again, Naruto gently reached for the wounded fox again. Though it quivered in fear, it did not lash out again. Once the fox grew accustomed to Naruto stroking his fur, the boy hoisted the animal up and curled it up against his jacket.

_I know that they allow animals—one kid has a white puppy running around and another has a giant bug collection—but taking in a baby fox will not be easy, _Naruto told himself, trying one last time to drive some sense into his thick head. "I don't know how to fix your leg, feed you, or take care of you at all." Naruto told the fox. "But I will sure as hell try."

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"Kiba, come here, please."

"Yes, sir."

The teacher sighed. The period had just ended, and Kiba had thought that he was finally free from Chemistry. Unfortunately for Kiba, his chemistry teacher, had called him over, stealing his precious few minutes of freedom.

"First and foremost, how many times must I tell you to keep your dog out of the lab?" Professor Ebisu asked exasperatedly. "The Headmistress may allow animals on the school's grounds, but I will not tolerate their presence near my chemicals. I'm not doing this to be mean, but it is a serious hazard that should not be taken lightly."

Kiba rolled his eyes. This reason was Ebisu's way of saying he hated dogs and needed a valid excuse to keep Kiba's beloved Akamaru away, other than 'I just don't want it here.'

"Secondly, you are failing." Kiba's eyes nearly popped out of his head, as his mouth dropped open. _That was quite a jump in topic,_ he thought wryly. Truthfully, Kiba was not surprised at all, but he had learned over the years that teachers were more sympathetic and likely to give out free points if you acted shocked and upset.

"If you did not think you were failing than you are even dumber than your grades, which should not even be possible." Ebisu snapped, knowing that Kiba was faking.

"You are going to need a tutor." Kiba groaned, he had needed one a few years ago, and it had been one the worst experiences of his life. "It will be Uchiha Sasuke."

Kiba froze. He was screwed; scratch how bad that old hag had been, this would be the worst thing to ever happen to him. "Sir! Certainly there is someone else—anyone else!" Kiba did not care that he was pleading—practically begging.

"I'm sorry boy, but he is the only one."

"That's a lie; there is no way he would agree to doing something like this."

"True, he did not agree, but this is his punishment."

"Oh, I see. What for?"

"He was caught bullying and harassing an underclassman."

"In other words, he beat up some freshmen, and they tattled on him. Sucks to be him."

"If you wish to put it so uncouthly, then yes, that is what happened. However, I believe it will 'suck to be you,' as you so eloquently said it, because he will be tutoring you."

"You're killing two birds with one stone. You're punishing me for slacking off in your class and 'violating lab etiquette/safety' and him for punching the lights out of some nerdy kid who probably deserved it. Nice work, teach, your smart."

"I'll hope that you were not being sarcastic and take that as compliment. Now get out of my sight, I can't stand being around you students for more than I have to."

"Wait! There's got to be some way I can change your mind!"

"Never bring that mutt into my classroom again, and I'll see what I can do." Ebisu replied, while glaring at the white puppy.

Kiba whimpered. He really hated Sasuke, but whenever he was without his beloved Akamaru, he felt…empty inside. Not quite that bad, but he would be bored as hell with no one to talk to. Yes, he did talk to his dog; the two of them shared a deep understanding and link.

"Fine." Kiba mumbled.

"If you bring it again, not only will I put you with Uchiha, but I'll find ways to make your life ten times worse than it already is." Ebisu paused to look through his notes. "Shino Aburame is your new partner. Now, leave me alone!"

Kiba sighed with relief; he did not know who this Shino kid was, but anything was better than Sasuke.

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"Hmm…" Naruto mumbled, as he scratched his chin. "I've got to call you something, don't I? But, what? Fox naming is not my specialty is not my forte; actually, naming in general isn't my forte."

Naruto's thoughts drifted to back when he was in the orphanage—before his boarding schools. The orphanage had given every kid a small pet, except him—for some reason the women there had hated him. However, one of his few friends had asked him for his help naming a black kitten. Months had passed before the two could agree on a name, until finally; his friend had decided that he would name it after someone he admired. Unfortunately, that was Freddy Krueger from the 'Nightmare on Elm Street' movies.

Thinking hard, Naruto thought of anyone he admired, liked or tolerated that would have a good fox name. Drawing blanks he scratched the top of his head again, desperately trying to find a suitable name.

It dawned on him, slamming into his brain. Naruto's eyes widened and his lips curled into a small smile just thinking about it. "I used to know someone named Kyubi. He's a perfect fit for you; from now on your name is Kyubi." Despite Naruto's bold declaration, the young fox was asleep, curled up in the boy's arms. Naruto just looked down and shook his head. Carrying it back in under his windbreaker, Naruto strolled back into his dorm.

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This is not and will never be a Yaoi story. I just want to repeat that so no one gets the wrong idea with the tutoring thing. I really hated the idea of having a tutor, but I could not think of anything else. I did change it from the tutor and tutored falling in love or whatever. One of the plots is to bring together the three-man squads, as friends.

Sorry, that Temari's description was pretty vague, but I don't really study girl's clothes. I was trying to think of what some of my friends would wear, but then I realized that I'm not looking at their fashion tastes.

If you don't like Kiba and are starting to get annoyed at how much screen time he is getting, than fear not. Kiba will be a huge player in the beginning, but **may** slip into obscurity later on in the story.

I sort of copped out with Kyubi. Some people said a person—with varied genders, personalities and other things, though—while other voted for an actual fox. Now, you can get both!


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